


Shine like silver

by Ississ



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Gosh Bones's still as grumpy as ever, Jewellery AU, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-14
Updated: 2013-07-14
Packaged: 2017-12-20 05:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/883223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ississ/pseuds/Ississ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard really hated those guys who thought their marriage wouldn’t last without a nice looking ring. He knew that it didn’t matter much, but it did look a lot nicer in the end. </p><p>Or that story in which Pavel buys female jewellery and miscommunication happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shine like silver

**Author's Note:**

> My first McChekov fic.   
> It was requested by an anon on tumblr and written within the hour. 
> 
> Non beta-ed and English still isn't my first language~ 
> 
> (Want to request something too? My tumblr is wictor-wictor-da ! )

Pavel had never been one to wear much jewellery, the fact that he was male had nothing to do with it, he just didn’t think it was needed. In fact he never wore any other then a simple and elegant silver watch.   
He felt comfortable that way, he felt good with it. And yet, it seemed as if he was drawn to that little but nice enough looking jewellery store on the corner or his street. He didn’t know why, he just was. 

It had been a month or two since he’d started living in this city. It was nice enough and the people were kind in their own way, but he’d been too busy with moving and college that he’d barely had the time to check out anything other than the local supermarket and bakery.   
And honestly, the jewellery story was one of the last things on his list to go check out. 

But sure enough he found himself standing in the store a good while sooner than he was planning on.   
“Hello.” The man which stood behind the counter didn’t even look up from his paper as Pavel ran his eyes over the various silver, golden and platinum object in the room. Some of them were locked behind glass while others lay bare. “Can I help you?” 

The man didn’t seem far too happy with his job. In fact, he seemed rather annoyed with it. “The wedding rings are over there if you’re looking.” It wasn’t a question. Or, perhaps it was, but it felt as if he’d asked that question far too many times to be bothered to wait for an answer? Perhaps it was just a silly little thing American did and Pavel hadn’t quite grasped that yet.   
“I’m not looking for a vedding ring.” He stated. Looking at the man a bit better.   
He looked tired. 

“Good thing we don’t sell ‘vedding’ rings here then. Whatever that might be.”   
He sure was a snarky person, wasn’t he.   
Pavel shook his head, he’d gotten a lot of comments on his accent during the short period he’d lived here after all. He was growing tired with them. “Are you looking for something then, kid?” 

The ‘kid’ part annoyed him. It always did when people used it. He was 18 years old for Christ’s sake! He wasn’t a kid anymore!   
“Njet.” Pavel shrugged, reaching out for a necklace which was on display on one of those grey coloured plastic necks. Rather scary really. “But zis one’s nice.”   
“And expansive so please, keep your sticky paws off them.” 

The stranger, and by now Pavel was itching to know his name, gave him a smirk before turning his attention back to the newspaper.   
“Aren’t you supposed to sell me something?” He asked, gently running a finger across the fine silver chain. “Only if you’re interested in buying. Which, you’re not.”   
“Vho says so?”   
“I do.” 

Pavel couldn’t help but smile. “Da. Zat I heard.”   
“Then why ask?”   
“Because it iz, uh hov do you say?” He raised an eyebrow at the man only to get one raised in reply. “A vitty zing to say?”   
The stranger laughed and Pavel himself couldn’t help but smile. It was as if the man hadn’t laughed in ages, or at least that was the way it sounded to him. “It’s hardly called witty kid, where are you from anyway?”   
“Russia.” 

A silence fell between them, only interrupted by the man folding his paper and with the creaking of the floor as Pavel walked closer to the counter. “A tourist?”   
“Njet. A student.” He smiled at the man, a honest smile, and offered him his hand. “My name’s Pavel. Pavel Chekov. I live on number 43.”  
“Came to meet your neighbours didn’t you kid?” The stranger shook his hand, a firm grip he had and Pavel wondered if he made the jewellery himself. Most likely not.   
“Perhaps.” 

“McCoy. Leonard McCoy. Owner of this junk.”   
“Nice to meet you, Leonard.” 

~  
Pavel found himself coming back to the jewellery store more times then he wanted to. Of course, he never left without buying anything. Which was a crime for his budget.   
He was supposed to be a poor student, not one who could spend loads of money on something silly as jewellery. And yet, he came back. Not for the jewellery, no, Pavel came back to see Leonard. 

“Meester McCoy?” He’d asking one day as he looked at a ring inlayed with little gems. “Vhat are zese gems?”   
“Damn it kid, how many times do I need to tell you to call me Leonard?” And he had told Pavel that many, many times, but Pavel still called him ‘mister McCoy’. Leonard was older after all and it was a habit he couldn’t let go of so easily.   
“I asked a question, Leonard.” Pavel had smiled at him and for a second, if only a second, he’d thought he’d seen something like a shudder ripple through the other and he’d wondered why. “Could you ansver it?” 

Leonard could.   
Leonard didn’t like his job at all, ‘too many men who still live the dream of a happy marriage. Who think a nice looking ring will be enough to keep the lady with them’, but he knew a lot about it. Perhaps he didn’t like the men who came to buy a wedding ring but he did like the look of silver and gold and the colourful gems that were used in them. 

Pavel on the other hand, liked to watch Leonard look at the jewellery. Though he held little love for it himself he could almost see the true beauty of the rings and necklaces when Leonard lovingly cleaned them or shuffled them around to put them in better light. 

“You see that little stone, right there?” Leonard asked him, pointing at the ring Pavel was holding. “That’s an emerald.”   
“Zis one?” And Pavel knew that he was pointing at the wrong stone, at the wrong gem, but he loved what came when he did so.   
“No kid, this one.” Leonard took his hand and guided his finger towards the right gem. “Oh zat one!” 

It was as if Leonard’s touch was something the was hungry for, something Pavel craved. And he couldn’t get enough of it. 

~

“Here. This one looks quite nice?” Leonard held up a necklace. One Pavel hadn’t seen before. “Would you like to try it on?”   
He did that often. Allowing Pavel to wear one of the new thing he’d just gotten in. It was a whole lot different than before, before he’d barely been allowed to touch something without Leonard’s gaze burning into his neck after all.   
“It iz nice indeed.”   
Pavel smiled, taking a step forward to the other. “But it has a funny lock, I don’t zink I can get it on myself.” 

It was like a code between them. Funny lock. The word meant nothing except for the prospect of having Leonard close to him.   
“sure kid, turn around.”   
Pavel did as he was told, waiting for it to come, waiting for Leonard to – Oh there it was. 

He could feel Leonard close to him, could feel his heat coming from behind him, as the older man reached out to secure the necklace around his neck.   
It always seemed as if Leonard lingered behind him longer then needed when he did that. Pavel was pretty sure he did. Today was no exception. 

“And?” He asked, voice barely more than a whisper.  
“It looks very nice on you.” Leonard was so close, Pavel felt his breath on his neck and he couldn’t help but shudder as Leonard added a whispered “kid” to the sentence.   
“You can keep it if you want.” 

Pavel didn’t feel the need to keep it but he also didn’t feel the need to argue with the other, nor to turn around or leave for that matter. “I couldn’t possibly -”   
“You can, don’t argue with me on this one.” For a second Pavel swore he could feel Leonard’s lips gracing his neck but they were gone before he could be sure. “Keep the necklace. Now. I gotta close.” 

~  
It wasn’t as if Pavel hadn’t made any mistakes in the whole affair. Well, he made plenty, even if he didn’t know that until later. 

He bought female jewellery. Earrings and the like.  
Pavel should have known that feeling the need to buy something every time he was in the god damn store was a bad idea. 

And yet, he wouldn’t notice until later. Until much later. That he was doing more damage than good to his relationship with Leonard. For, whatever relationship they even had.   
He always thought of the jewellery as an excuse to spend more time with Leonard. To get to know the other better. To dream that there might was a tiny shot for him to ever earn the affection and love of the man he’d grown quite fond of in a short period of time. 

Leonard, on the other hand, got quite different ideas from the constant purchase of female jewellery.   
“And? Did she like it?” He spat one day when Pavel was holding up another pair of earrings but putting them down after letting out a soft whimper at the sight of the prize. “Vho liked vhat?”   
“The ring you bought a week ago? Did your girlfriend like it?” 

Pavel stood there. Unsure of what to say, unsure of how to act. He couldn’t really go confessing that mostly everything he bought here was still at his house, safely wrapped up in the boxed he’d bought them in, could he?   
“Da. Da she did.” He mumbled before turning around and rushing out of the store. 

~  
He didn’t visit for about a month. Too busy with study, or so he told himself, to go and meet Leonard. Not that the other tried to contact him either. Sometimes Pavel remembered he’d told the man where he lived, and yet he’d never seen him anywhere other than the store.   
Perhaps if he’d been bolder, if he’d been more adventurous. He’d gone and seen Leonard. Told him that there was no girlfriend and that the only person he’d love to buy jewellery for would be the man himself. 

But Pavel wasn’t bold, wasn’t adventurous. He was scared and he was hopelessly in love.   
And so, time passed, and Pavel still refused to walk down that side of the street, to come anywhere near that store. Until he couldn’t bear it anymore. 

“Leonard?” There came no reply. “Leonard?”   
“Ah if that isn’t our mystery Russian kid. Running off as soon as someone asks a normal question.” Leonard came out of the back of the store, something like dust in his hair and on his clothes and a couple of boxes on his arm. “It’s been a month you know.” 

“Da. I knov.”  
“Still don’t used to saying ‘yes’ aren’t you.” Leonard’s tone was sharp, as if he wanted to cut Pavel with his words. “Njet.”   
“Idiot.” 

Pavel was sure that Leonard’s reply was fairly longer but most of its meaning got lost in a rumble of cursing and swearing.   
“Leonard.” He tried again. Reaching out to grab the other man’s arm from over the counter. “I’m sorry.” And he wasn’t even sure for what he was sorry. For not coming by sooner. For not having enough guts to do what he was about to do. For not confessing his love sooner. 

“There’s no girlfriend.” He admitted, a bit sheepishly.   
“Did she dump you? Are you here to return all that jewellery that I sold you because if that’s the case you can go to -”   
“Njet you do not understand. Zere has never been a girlfriend to begin vith. It has alvays been just me, me vho bought all zat jewellery to -”   
“Don’t go tell me you’re secretly a female now Pavel because I -”  
“NJET! Listen to me!” Pavel felt as if he could slap the other right there and then. Probably a bad decision if he choice to do that though. 

“Zere has never been any female. I’ve alvays bought zat jewellery because I didn’t vant to leave here vithout buying anything! I’ve alvays just bought and bought for no one other zen you!”   
It sounded weird, it was weird! Who buys such amount of jewellery just because they like the person who sells it? Just because they like a person who’s of the same gender and who’s much older than them anyway? 

“Oh.” 

Well. That wasn’t a reply Pavel had expected. And he thought he’d gone over every possible scenario.   
“Is zat a good ‘oh’ or a bad ‘oh’?” He’d barely been able to ask his question before Leonard yanked him closer, pressing him close to him as he hugged him. 

“It’s a good ‘oh’ you idiot.”   
And that’s when he kissed him. Soft and tender and in the middle of the stupid store that started it all.   
“Zen it is okay.” 

~  
Leonard had always hated those men who thought that a pretty ring was the key to a happy marriage. He’d always hated those idiots who thought their love wouldn’t have enough with a simple ring. If you loved someone and they knew you did a simple silver ring would be enough. But he’d found out that he was wrong about it.   
Like he had been wrong about many things. 

He smiled at Pavel from the other side of the store, acting as if he was cleaning some of the rings set on display there.   
“You remember that time I gave you that necklace?” He asked, holding up a ring against the sunlight as if he was taking a good look at it. “Da I do. I still vear it.”   
“Hmh. I would like to give you something else. But you’ll need to close your eyes.” 

Pavel let out a giggle and rolled his eyes but did as he was told anyway. Shifting around on the chair Leonard had placed behind the counter for him as Leonard closed the distance between them, gently lifting Pavel’s hand and slipping the ring on his finger.   
“Yes.”   
“You didn’t even open your eyes, and since when do you know how to say yes?”   
“I don’t need to see it,” And even if he opened his right eye playfully and smiled at Leonard he didn’t look at the ring. “I am avare zat I love you. And isn’t that vhat it’s all about?” 

“Yes, yes it is.” 

And so, Leonard wasn’t wrong after all. He really didn’t need some sort of stone on a ring for his love to be happy, but he had to admit, it looked far more prettier than a simple silver ring.


End file.
